We have wine at every evening meal. So, I am always on the hunt for a good-value table wine that does not break the bank to keep in stock. I routinely pour through certain publications looking for new wines for that
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Wine Enthusiast Taps Three Rosés in TOP 100 BEST WINE VALUES OF 2017
By Jerry Clark
/ October 19, 2017
11 Replies
AOP Côte du Luberon Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence Côtes de Provence Provence Wines Red Wine Rhône Wines Rosé Wine Tavel White Wine Wine
2017 HARVEST IN PROVENCE AND SOUTHERN RHÔNE: EARLY AND SMALL BUT WITH GREAT EXPECTATIONS
By Susan Manfull
/ October 15, 2017
If you live in the South of France, you would have to be living a cave not to know that the 2017 harvest was
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Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food You Say Rolle, and I Say Vermentino…
By David Scott Allen
/ October 7, 2017
There is no need to call the whole thing off, because we are both right; Rolle and Vermentino grapes are one and the same. The Italians make Vermentino, while those of you in Provence sip Rolle. I truly wish I had a bottle of each side-by-side to test, because I feel they are quite different. Basically, all that folderol about terroir really isn't folderol at all. (Now THAT should be a Cole Porter lyric, even though my nod to “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” is an Ira and George
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BETTER CALL WALTER
By Susan Manfull
/ September 10, 2017
Last year, about this time, my daughter and I were on our way from Lourmarin to Château d'Esclans in La Motte, about 150 kilometers away in the département of the Var. There, we were to meet with Tom Schreckinger, Communications Director for the Château, and Patrick Léon, chief oenologist for the château, for a tasting and conversation at the harvest lunch. It was the middle of the vendange in that part of Provence and, per the...
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Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Eat Dessert First?
By David Scott Allen
/ September 2, 2017
I saw a display of Belleruche rosé at my local upscale grocery store. It was new to me and from a region I trust, thus it caught my attention. I was surprised to see it priced at $8.99, so I picked up a couple of bottles out of sheer curiosity. Only later did I find it at the Big Box wine store for significantly more. And, while it was unfamiliar to me, Susan brought to my attention the full page ad for Belleruche in The Wine Spectator last month; evidently, it is not unknown to
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DECODING CÔTES DE PROVENCE ROSÉ
By Susan Manfull
/ August 15, 2017
There are still people out there who think that rosé comes from blending red and white wines and others who (seriously) think rosé is made from a single grape variety called rosé. This article focuses on the traditionally dry, fresh, fruit-forward, pale-colored rosés
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Provencal Pairings: Wine with Food Rhône Rangers Rosé Wine Wine Wine Food Pairing Winemaker Profiles
Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
AZ Puts the Pizzazz in Rosé
By David Scott Allen
/ August 5, 2017
There I was, minding my own business, sipping a Provence rosé at Revel in Tucson with friends celebrating their engagement. I chose the rosé, of course, and mentioned to server that I was a big rosé fan.
By coincidence, the rep from Rune Wines was in that day and, unbeknownst to me, they were tasting Rune’s 2015 rosé. The server brought me a glass “just because.” Apparently, while I was minding my own business, he was paying attention. I was really astonished at the nose, and how unctuous it was on my palate, and how well it paired with our
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IT’S TIME TO (RE) DISCOVER THE ROSÉ BELOVED BY KINGS, POPES, AND WRITERS: MEET TAVEL
By Susan Manfull
/ July 13, 2017
I was delighted to learn Tavel was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway.
This rosé’s popularity and fame, though, predates my favorite
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This rosé’s popularity and fame, though, predates my favorite
EDITORIAL DEBATE: CAN WE SETTLE THIS OVER A ROSÉ?
By Jerry Clark
/ July 2, 2017
Since I began in 2015 to write for Provence WineZine, my colleague and publisher Susan Manfull and I have had a sort of running dispute on why I don’t seem to take rosé as a serious wine. Frankly, she is rather
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Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Those Summer Nights
By David Scott Allen
/ July 1, 2017
While summer isn't the only season to drink rosé, it is incredibly refreshing on a hot summer evening... and that is something we know well in Tucson. Sometimes, it is so hot in the evening (lately, our temperatures have been hovering at 115°F or 46°C) that we don't want a full meal - perhaps just apéro with some nice wine, a little cheese, and a few friends.
With a bottle of the 2015 Domaine de Terrebrune Bandol Rosé chilling, we invited a few friends over for some wine and cheese. Simple. Casual. Relaxed. Early in the morning, while it
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DISCOVER PIERREVERT: VISIT CHATEAU SAINT JEAN LEZ DURANCE
By Susan Manfull
/ June 25, 2017
There was a moment when we stood outside Château Saint Jean, sipping a rosé blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and Roussanne taken directly from the tank, enjoying its distinctly almond nose while looking across a
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OFF THE VIA DOMITIATHE RHÔNE RANGERS RAISE THEIR GLASSES IN HONOR OF SONOMA RESTAURATEUR SONDRA BERNSTEIN
By Susan Manfull
/ June 19, 2017
It was the perfect assemblage to honor the woman who created the “Rhône Alone” wine list: an unusually glorious June day in San Francisco; the Golden
Wine and Jazz in Provence
By William T Manfull
/ June 4, 2017
What is the perfect musical pairing for the wines of Provence and southern Rhône? Jazz! There are terrific jazz events held in and about wineries during the summer months throughout Provence and most include wine tasting as part of the festivities. Take a picnic, try the wine, and listen to some jazz--what could be better!
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape Provencal Pairings: Wine with Food Rhône Rangers White Wine Wine Wine Food Pairing Wine Tasting
Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food Beauty and the Belle
By David Scott Allen
/ June 3, 2017
A little over two years ago, I fell in love with a blonde bombshell - a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I was somewhat in awe of this wine, and never dreamed I would see its doppelgänger here on these shores. But, as you read on, you will find I was wrong.
Just this past October, Susan Manfull wrote an article for the Provence WineZine about a wine bloggers conference she attended last August in Lodi, California, that included visit to Acquiesce Vineyards. It was then she
AOP Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence Côteaux Varois Provence Wines Red Wine Rosé Wine White Wine Wine Wine Snoop Report
The Force is with Château Margüi as it joins George Lucas’s Skywalker Vineyards
By Susan Manfull
/ May 28, 2017
Rumors, swirling around the verdant green hills of Coteaux Varois en Provence for months, are confirmed: Skywalker Vineyards has acquired the sumptuous Château Margüi, located in Châteauvert in the center of the Var. There, accolade-collecting wines have been produced since 2004 under the meticulous care of Marie-Christine Baylet-Guillanton and Philippe Guillanton who bought
April Frost Damages 25% of Château Vignelaure Vineyard
By Susan Manfull
/ May 28, 2017
“We are lucky the damage was not worse,” Philippe Bru, Directeur Œnologue of Château Vignelaure, said of the April 29th frost that hit his vineyard, located in Rians, just north of Aix-en-Provence. “I hear that the Center of the Var was hit much worse, especially around Correns.”
That devastating frost, considered the most destructive since
Diary of a Master of Wine in ProvenceJudging, Celebrating, Researching, Tasting
By Elizabeth Gabay
/ May 22, 2017
As with any business, living and working in Provence is not all sunshine lunches…. well, only a few…..
The past couple of weeks have been very busy. In late April, I was based in London, which, surprise, surprise, was cold grey and damp – although it did warm up a little by the end. I was there to judge in the Decanter World Wine Awards. This year the number of entries topped 17,000 wines
IS ROSÉ A SERIOUS WINE? SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT
By Susan Manfull
/ May 14, 2017
“Rosé does not merit serious tasting”
…Such were the recent words of a fellow wine writer, one very knowledgeable about wine, and one whose opinion I respect immensely on
Musings of a Wine MavenAlternative Facts and the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
By Jerry Clark
/ May 7, 2017
It would seem there is nothing unequivocal in the tag line to the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (SFCWC) logo proclaiming it to be “The Largest Competition of American Wines in the World.” So you can imagine my surprise when I was reviewing its listing of medal winners of the 2017 event held in January and started noticing clearly foreign-sourced wines copping some
AOP Côtes de Provence Provencal Pairings: Wine with Food Provence Wines Rosé Wine Winemaker Profiles
Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food Flight of Fancy
By David Scott Allen
/ May 6, 2017
Three wines; flight of fancy or fancy flight? I say it's both.
It has been a good year in Provence… most specifically, in Cotignac. Jeany and Stephen Cronk, founders of Mirabeau en Provence, situated in Cotignac, sent me the full flight of their rosé wines to create food pairings. All three of the wines won gold medals this year: Pure and Étoile received the 2017 Médaille d'Or in Paris and, in addition, Étoile scored an impressive 92 points form the Wine Enthusiast. The Mirabeau Classic won the 2017 Médaille d'Or at the